


Link and Groose's Unfortunate Night Out

by Forest_Warp



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Comedy, F/M, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-07-04 10:50:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15839718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Forest_Warp/pseuds/Forest_Warp
Summary: It's the biggest night of Link's high school career, and he completely messed it up at every turn. Witness Link and Groose get into a literally unbelievably large amount of trouble and shenanigans on what should be a perfectly normal prom night. Hilarity ensues (I hope.)





	Link and Groose's Unfortunate Night Out

It was five-thirty on the evening of Link’s Senior Prom. He was currently lying in bed trying to get a quick nap in before he had to get dressed. He knew that he had to keep his phone on full blast next to his head in case anyone wanted to get a hold of him. If Zelda knew he was napping at a time like this, she would never let him live it down. The thing is, it just didn’t take that much time to get dressed. In fact, he didn’t really understand the entire craze of prom in general. When Zelda asked if he’d go with her it was only logical to say “yes.” She was his best friend. He was a little surprised that she hadn’t accepted one of the many offers she received from the more eager gentlemen of their school, but to each their own. In their thirteen years of friendship Zelda had never expressed much interest in boys. That was fine by Link, as he wasn’t too interested in girls. Their dynamic was just fine without throwing a significant other into the mix. They did everything together. Zelda was all he needed. A girlfriend just wouldn’t understand that. She’d think their bond was weird. No, Link was perfectly satisfied with things exactly as they were… 

His dream was incredibly peaceful. A favorite pastime of Link’s was finding a cozy place to rest his eyes and enjoying wherever his mind took him. It was especially pleasant if Zelda was close by. Her presence just calmed him and made the entire thing easier. Of course, Zelda would eventually wake him up, which was a down side. She’d also playfully tease him. He’d argue, but there wasn’t exactly much ground to defend himself with. He was a healthy guy, and got all the sleep he needed at night! His mid-day naps could only be attributed to laziness. But, hey, you only live once. Why not spend it doing something you love? A smile came to the sleeping boy’s face as he imagined himself lying peacefully on a wonderfully fluffy cloud. The wind blew through his hair in just the right way, and all felt right with the world. There was just one problem…

_ Knock. Knock. Knock.  _

What was that sound in the back of his head? He couldn’t quite place it… He returned to his slumber blissfully unaware of the pounding at his front door. That is, until his mind finally registered the sound he was hearing. His eyes shot open as he recognized the sound of his front door being pummeled by an irritated girl. Oh no…. Oooooooh no… Why hadn’t she texted him that she was coming? Link checked his phone, only to realize it was dead. He’d really meant to charge it… 

Zelda was waiting at his front door and he was still in his boxers! He couldn’t even text her an excuse because his phone was dead! He’d really messed up this time. He frantically jumped out of bed and bolted to the bathroom. Upon looking at his reflection he realized that his hair was nearly beyond repair. He grabbed a beanie off of the bathroom counter and threw it on his head. The panicking boy then searched his room for the dress clothes he really should have left out. The pounding wouldn’t stop, and it was driving Link crazy! He had to let her inside. Link ran down the steps and opened his front door. Standing on the other side was none other than Zelda. 

Time seemed to freeze as he took in the sight before him. Zelda looked….  _ Really nice.  _ Her hair was perfect, her makeup looked wonderful, her smile… Link couldn’t look away from her warm smile. Then he saw her dress. It was… Well… He was terrible at explaining why things looked nice. He couldn’t tell  _ why  _ he liked her dress so much. It was green… A deep forest green to be exact… There was glitter all over it too. Well, it was kind of all over her arms  _ and  _ dress. He marveled at the way the dress complimented her figure perfectly. Now, Link wasn’t an idiot. He knew that his friend was a beautiful girl, but he’d never paid that much attention to it. Now, however, was a different story. He stared at her in awe, shocked by her appearance. In fact…  _ She  _ looked a little shocked too. Her eyes widened, and her warm smile turned to a look of surprise and annoyance. 

“ _ Link!”  _ She questioned. “Why are you in your  _ boxers!?”  _

Boxers? It was at that moment that Link realized his mistake. He was so focused on letting his friend in that he had completely forgotten about his wardrobe issues… The boy was standing in front of Zelda wearing nothing but his boxers. His face turned pink from embarrassment as he stepped back. 

“Uh… Um… Well…” He stuttered, always poor with words. 

Zelda walked inside and shut the door before covering her eyes with one hand. Link bit bit bottom lip anxiously. He’d really done it this time. His one-track mind had gotten him into trouble before, but never like this. He couldn’t have grabbed a towel or something? Zelda sighed loudly. 

“Okay… The dance is in thirty minutes, and you’re naked. Why are you naked!? Why are you in a beanie? You’re not wearing that!” She groaned, getting angrier the more she thought about it. 

“I’m not naked! I’m in my underwear!” Link argued, trying to maintain some shred of pride. It wasn’t working.

Zelda let out a sigh of frustration as she faced the other way. “Just… Stop being naked! We’re supposed to be there in ten minutes. My parents want pictures!” 

Pictures? Yeah… He wasn’t exactly picture-ready at the moment. 

“Okay! I’ll be right back. I’m sorry.” He sprinted up the steps as fast as his legs would take him. “ _ You look great! _ ” He shouted, voice fading as he slammed his bedroom door shut. 

Zelda rolled her eyes and lowered her hand from her face. When would that boy get a hold of his life? He had always drifted easily through everything… Nothing ever challenged him. Because of this, he had a terrible work ethic. He was a straight B student for his entire life until Zelda whipped him into shape and demanded he do better. They had always planned on going to the same college, but she wasn’t going to settle for whatever school accepted his average grades. For the first time in his life, Link actually studied, and it paid off. This proved that he wasn’t incapable of applying himself, he was just lazy. 

Zelda sat down on the couch in her friend’s living room, lifting a picture off of the table beside it. A gentle smile came to her lips as she fondly looked at a picture of Link and her in their early years. They couldn’t be older than eight in the picture. The two were hugging with a fish between their little bodies. A large pole could be seen to their side, and Lake Hylia was in the background. It was the first and only time they went fishing. They were too jittery for something like that when they were little. Link’s uncle never took them back to that lake. She didn’t blame him… They were probably a nightmare. She laughed to herself as she placed the picture down. The idea of fishing didn’t seem so bad to her now. Reclining in a camping chair as you enjoy the scenery and listen to the sounds of nature. Link would probably fall asleep against her. 

“Sleepyhead…” She mumbled under her breath, looking at the young boy’s face in the picture. 

She’d had a crush on Link for as long as she could remember. Well, that’s not entirely accurate. She  _ did  _ have a crush on him for that long, but she only realized it a few months ago. They did everything together! It was just so natural and easy to spend time with him. She furrowed her brow and sighed, sitting back in the couch. The only problem was Link never gave her any hints that he liked her back. It was stressful, falling in love with your best friend. The perfect way to ruin something perfect… She couldn’t believe  _ she  _ had to ask  _ him  _ to prom. Her dad was wholeheartedly against it. Not that he had any problems with the young man… It’s just that there was a certain order in his mind. He wanted Link to come to his senses as much as Zelda did. 

“Alright! I’m good!” The boy in question called from upstairs, breaking Zelda’s train of thought. 

Link thumped loudly down the steps. The only time he moved with such purpose and energy was when he was in trouble. Otherwise he’d have casually walked. He stood in front of Zelda nervously; waiting to be judged for his outfit. He was wearing a white dress shirt tucked into black pants. He had classy-looking shoes that he’d picked up at Walmart the night before and a red tie. He bit his lip nervously. Zelda looked like a model… Meanwhile Link looked like an eighth grader going to his first dance. He could tell that his friend had a million things to say, but refrained. Instead, she just stood up and checked the time. 

“Okay. Just grab the corsage and let’s get going.” She grabs her bag. 

“Corsage?” Link echoed, having never heard of such a thing. 

Zelda let her head fall back in despair. She quickly collected herself and cleared her throat. “Yes, Link. The corsage... The flower that you put on your date’s wrist. Haven’t you seen those before?” 

Well, he’d probably seen those before, but he certainly didn’t remember it. Why were there so many things a person was expected to remember? Where was the prom rulebook!? How was someone without parents supposed to know any of this? Link, of course, didn’t vocalize any of those thoughts. He just awkwardly looked around the room in silence. 

“It’s alright… I just got one myself while picking up your boutonniere. Let’s go.” She smiled, obviously not very upset. 

Link felt a pang of guilt as he followed his date out the door. She really was committed to the “Prom Experience…” He thought they were just supposed to have fun? Then again, he never knew Zelda as the kind of girl who would give anything any less than one-hundred percent of her effort. That’s just how she was. 

“So what’s a boutonniere?” Link asked as they headed to Zelda’s car. 

Zelda laughed. “It’s like… Think of a corsage, but it’s pinned to your chest.” 

Link didn’t feel the need to mention that he had no idea what a corsage looked like. He figured that would only irritate his friend more. He felt really bad about the whole thing. Had he known Zelda was going to take the dance this seriously, he’d have put more effort into it! He just thought they would go for a bit and then bail. They got into her car and pulled out of the driveway. 

“So, Uncle Rusl is still out of town?” Zelda asked as they drove down the street. 

Link nodded, but remembered that Zelda was looking at the road. “Yeah. He texted me. Said he wouldn’t be home until tomorrow.” 

Zelda smiled, shrugging. “Well, you can stay at my house tonight. My parents always love seeing you. And we’ll be leaving really late anyway.” 

Link let out a sound of agreement; resting his head against the seat and looking up into space. He always enjoyed sleeping at Zelda’s house. It was livelier than his place. There was always a hot breakfast in the morning… Not that his uncle didn’t try! He was just always busy. 

“Just so you know, my parents are gonna scold you about that tie.” Zelda warned.

Link just raised a brow and turned his head to Zelda. 

“I mean… It’s red, Link. Your tie is supposed to be the color of my dress. I told you this.” She sighed, trying to sound empathetic. 

Link just looked out the window. He’d learned his lesson, that’s for sure. Prom was serious business… How had he not learned anything from the year before? He and Zelda went last year. But it was so much more laid back! They drove separately, didn’t coordinate outfits, and certainly didn’t buy any fake-sounding flowers. Why did he not pick up on this prom being different? What changed? It felt like Zelda just started speaking a different language. Everything was much more important to her than it used to be. Maybe she was growing up, and he wasn’t? 

As they pulled up to the high school parking lot Link noticed dozens upon dozens of students piling into the building for the “most exciting night of their lives.” He honestly just didn’t get the hype. To each their own, but to Link it felt like nothing more than a sweaty mess filled with loud noises and music that nobody wanted to listen to. He’d much prefer a relaxing evening with Zelda. But sometimes what you prefer isn’t what matters. He held Zelda’s desires very importantly in his heart and would hate to upset her, so he usually kept his downer opinions on prom to himself. Zelda parked the car and the two got out with haste. They are already quite late meeting her parents in front of the school. 

“Alright Link, promenade is about to start. Lucky for us my name starts with ‘Z’, so we shouldn’t be called for a few minutes.” She explained as they walked through the parking lot.

“Wait, promenade? Isn’t it just called prom?” He mumbled, untying his tie and attempting to straighten it. 

“For gods’ sake Link, you  _ went  _ to prom last year! Don’t you remember? Promenade is the big line that the students walk down right before prom. They all get to show off their outfits, parents get pictures, it’s a really big thing. How haven’t you…. Fuck it, c’mon, there’re my parents.” She sighed in defeat. 

Zelda’s parents lit up like Christmas trees when they saw the young couple. Her mother melted, rushing over and giving them both one big hug. Now, Zelda mother was named… Zelda. Long story, but they always named the first born woman “Zelda” in their family. It weirded Link out, because he’d never met a girl Jr. before, let alone a girl named “Zelda the LXXXVIII.” Okay, he might have been exaggerating the number, but it sure felt that way. 

Zelda the LXXXVII, or “Zelda’s Mom” for short, pulled away from the hug and smiled at them. She raised a brow at Link’s tie though, shaking her head. 

“Link, honey, your tie is supposed to be the color of Zelda’s dress.” She frowned. 

Gaepora -Zelda’s Father- just let out a hardy laugh and stepped forward. He removed his forest green tie and handed it to Link. “No big deal, that’s why I wore this.” He said, laughing it off. 

Gaepora was a very nice man. He was the chief of police in their small town, but he always seemed to make time for his family. Link could appreciate that. However, he felt very embarrassed accepting the man’s tie. It was his date’s father’s clothing. There had to be some hidden prom rule against wearing the tie of your date’s father. Either way he shrugged and quickly tied it. The happy parents shoved Link and Zelda together for far too many pictures before sending them inside. 

As Link walked into the building he instantly felt yet another pang of self consciousness. All of the young men around him were in such nice clothes. Meanwhile he had thrown his current outfit together in a single evening for thirty-seven dollars. Well, thirty-four if you don’t count the snacks he bought at Walmart while searching for his outfit. The other boys were wearing fancy suits, shirts with collars far more incricite than his, and dress shoes. For the love of all that is holy, how could he have forgotten  _ dress shoes?  _ He was currently wearing sneakers. Needless to say, it was a bit of a damper on what was meant to be a fun night. Not only that, but it was supposed to be  _ Zelda’s night.  _ He felt like he’d failed her. People always look back to their senior prom. Had he permanently branded himself with a mark of shame in all memories of high school? 

Zelda noticed that Link hadn’t replied to anything she’d said for well over a minute. Not only that, but he had that dopey expression he only made when he was deep in thought. She’d normally let him play the fantasy out before snapping him out of it, but there wasn’t time. She snapped her fingers in front of Link’s face to get his attention. His eyes widened, and his cheeks flushed a bit when he realized that he’d mentally checked out. 

“Link, I need to go to the bathroom. Get in line and keep our place. I’ll be right back, okay?” She smiled at him with that Zelda smile that always calmed him down. 

He nodded his head and walked over to the long line. It began right in front of the entrance to the gym. Link vaguely remembered promenade. Not every school did it, but it was fairly common. They set up a nice carpet in the gym and had kids walk across it like a big event. He began to breathe slowly and calm himself down. If a tie was the worst mistake he made that night, it would still be a great prom. He just needed to relax and enjoy the night with Zelda. Would that really be so hard? Zelda could make a nail-pulling competition sound like a good time. He smiled a bit as he thought about her. Man, she  _ really  _ looked nice tonight. Like… much nicer than he remembered her ever looking before. Not only that, but she picked a green dress. Green wasn’t her favorite color. It was orchid purple with arctic blue coming in a  _ very  _ close second. Her dress was orchid the previous year, so why not go with arctic blue? For a moment the thought crossed his mind that green was  _ his  _ favorite color, but that didn’t make sense. Link’s taste in color shouldn’t have affected Zelda’s choice. That wasn’t how things worked… Was it? 

He was deep in thought when a random student turned directly in front of him, spilling his open container of red gatorade all over Link’s white button up. Time slowed down in that moment. Link’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as he realized that the electrolyte-filled liquid had sealed his fate as the most laughable schmuck at their entire prom. He normally wouldn’t care, but  _ ZELDA CARED.  _ She cared deeply… Now his shirt was ruined, and Gaepora was too big for him, so it’s not like the old man would lend him the shirt off his back too. He was running out of options. What could he do to fix this in time? That’s when he heard the cry of an old friend. 

“LINK! WHY ARE YOU DRESSED LIKE A CHEAP WAITER?” Groose called out in disbelief from the other side of the room. He rushed over to the smaller boy and grabbed him by each shoulder. “Link, you’re taking Zelda to prom, you can’t look like this! And the stain? Are you serious? Did you even wash the shirt?  _ DID YOU WASH THE SHIRT LINK?”  _ Groose demanded, shaking Link’s shoulders violently. 

Link broke free from the stronger man’s grip and pulled away. He rubbed his shoulder uncomfortably before speaking. “The stain just happened Groose.” He said with a frown. “And I know, I messed up.”

Groose just shook his head. “No, no. You don’t get to mess up. This is  _ Zelda  _ we’re talking about. You’re gonna treat her like a queen. All women are queens, Link. D’ya understand that? Now c’mon, I think I can help.” He pulled Link out of the school by his arm. 

“Wait, Groose, I have to wait for Zelda!” He mumbled, realizing that Groose was taking him somewhere. 

“Pffft, don’t worry man. Just text her saying you’re in the bathroom. I’ll have you back here in under ten minutes."

_ Yeah, because that would make for an interesting story.  _

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Hey there, thanks for reading this entire thing. Uhhhhhhhhh more coming soon, I sure hope.


End file.
